Noah...

Noah has to be one of the most creative story tellers ever! If you want to hear a story, Noah's the man for the job! He always has something brewing in that mind of his. The wheels are always turning! Noah & Adam share a bedroom & a bunk bed. There are many nights when Noah lays in bed and tells Adam stories until Adam falls asleep. It just warms my heart to hear him do this for Adam... he really is such a good brother. He's often the first to come and give me a hug in the morning & he always gives such great smiles! He's a ray of sunshine! Noah also love Bionicles, Lego, Star Wars and the Nintendo DS. If you give him any one of those, he is a happy camper! Sometimes he is just so easy to please! Noah is also a boy who really loves bible stories and is pretty much always telling people about the gospel... I swear he's a little missionary in the making. Just last week I had the kids at the Military Family Resource Center (MFRC) and they had been there for a few hours (in child care... I was at church doing my Young Women's thing) and when I came to pick the kids up, the lady who was working there informed me that Noah had filled her in about the church. That's Noah for you! Apparently he told her about pretty much everything he could think of... I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall! He definitely made an impression on her. :) Noah makes an impression on everyone! I really can't wait to see what he becomes as an adult. He's such an interesting person, with a personality all his own. I am proud of him & the wonderful spirit he brings to our home & to my life.

Noah ~ almost 9 yrs old~ August 2008

Yes, I am using pictures from summer... I hate the cold winter in Manitoba... I can't take any pictures of the kids outside b/c it's WAY to cold here! I can barely stand to leave the house!!!

JUNE!!!

June is my dear daughter who is definitely 7 going on 17. She's as smart as a whip... which makes things interesting. She LOVES to read and will just fly through a book in no time flat. She's such a good sister to Madi. She is so nurturing, a real little mom in the making. It's been so nice to have June around, especially when she's helping me with dinner, or reading to Madi (and sometimes to Adam & Noah too!) or taking the time to stop and give me a hug. Those are the moments that make my day. I am so proud of who June is becoming. She's going to have a herd of boys chasing her one day though... Bryce & I are already worried about that! I'm not sure how that one will go. I just hope Bryce will meet the boys at the doorstep with a BIG gun & hopefully they will get the message that we will expect them to behave & treat our daughter with respect! (I'm starting on a tangent... sorry... back to who June is!) I am really proud of her. She loves school & does extremely well, she's turning into a good swimmer, she does well when she plays soccer, she's confident & she's loving. I am excited (& a little scared) to see what life will bring June, and more importantly, what June has to bring to life! I feel like my little girl is well on her way... the days of her playing in the sandbox and with Barbie dolls are over and before I know it, she'll grow up & be gone. (This is a common thread here... I'm sad all my babies aren't babies anymore... so sad that they all grow up & leave... although when they do, maybe my house will be clean all the time!!)

June ~ just about 7 years old ~ August 2008

And then there was Adam...

Adam is the little 'puppy' of our family. When Adam gets excited about one of his tangents, his eyes get really big, he stands on his tippy toes & he talks a mile a minute! (And the end of every sentence ends with 'a'... for example: Come with me-a. It's quite funny b/c he clearly doesn't even realize he adds the 'a' at the end of everything.) He's just so cute! I swear he has an invisible tail that is wagging constantly... Love it! Adam is now in kindergarten. Adam's biggest challenge starting kindergarten this past fall was getting dressed. Anyone who knows Adam knows that when he is home, he LOVES to run around in his underwear. And I mean LOVES. In the fall I had many mornings of persuading Adam in to putting on some clothes. And there were many mornings of angry tears... he just didn't want to wear clothes. He is much better now at getting dressed in the morning (thank heavens!!) but when he gets home from school, he takes off all of his outdoor clothes and continues to strip down to his underwear! Oh, my little Captain Underpants! We are really loving this little boy, dressed or not. It's so fun to see him growing up but it makes me sad too; I am realizing that these sweet 'puppy' days will end and he will turn into a big boy, then teenager, then just grow up and leave. I am really trying hard to enjoy every day of this stage of his life... it's a wonderful time.

Adam 4 1/2 yrs old (August 2008)
I couldn't decide which picture to use, so I'm putting both up!

This is the Adam we know & love!

Little Miss Madi Grace...

Ahhh, what can I say about our little Madi?! We just love her to pieces. She lights up a room when she comes in... We are having so much fun with her. She has been our child who, out of the blue, taught herself how to sit up. Oh and one day when she was 8 months old, climbed up a full flight of stairs... and then by 10 months was walking! This little girl is loving life. I often say that there is a little spirit that is loving having a body! She keeps us on our toes and I wouldn't change that for anything!

Madi ~ 22 months old

March 2009

A few of my favorite...

Here are a few of my favorite video clips. I enjoy watching them on days I need a little lift. I find them to be very encouraging and help me to remember what is most important to me in my life. (if you want to watch it, just remember to turn of the music for my site... go to the sidebar & hit the pause button!)

What a great reminder! Love it!

Here's another one that I absolutely LOVE! It is so inspiring...

I like this one too... I just came across it yesterday & enjoyed it.

I was visiting with Bryce this morning and mentioned to him that I have been working on this blog. He told me that this can definitely count as wrinting in my journal. Bryce is great at keeping track of things in his journal. I am pathetic! Every entry seems to begin with, "Here I go again, I am going to try to keep up with this. I am going to write because I know it's important...". And then, I write until my hand is too sore to go on. The next entry is usually about 2 years later! So if this can count as journalling, bonus! It's a good way to keep track of what we have done & what's important to us at different times. I am starting to enjoy this blogging already & LOVE that my hand doesn't hurt from writing! ;) The other thing Bryce teases me about is whether or not I have even written about the kids births, etc in my journal. *Blush!* I haven't! So maybe I need to add something about that one of these days and pay tribute to each child... and then it will be recorded somewhere!! So much to do...

This may keep my sanity...

... or what's left of it!! There are more times than not that I am on my own with the kids. Things are often busy, busy, busy so I have started doing a few new things with the kids. I was inspired by my sister Lindsay who has had Liam, my nephew, making his own lunches since he was in kindergarten. I decided that the time is now to have the kids do the same! So in January I announced to Noah, June & Adam that they are officially in charge of making their own lunches. They were thrilled! (I was too!!) It has been so nice to have them doing this... I don't have to do the work & they get to pick whatever they want to eat (of course I supervise so that they don't eat junk everyday!). The best part is that there are no more 'I don't want to eat that' fights and that the kids are actually EATING what's in their lunches! Whooo!! Good times! :)



Here's Noah trying not to smile... he was grinning from ear to ear, but then he realized I was going to take a picture...



The other thing I am trying now is to have the kids choose a meal a week. I thought of this because June wants to eat tacos EVERY day and would often be upset if we weren't eating tacos. So I made a schedule: June picks on Monday, Mom on Tuesday, Adam chooses on Wednesday, Noah chooses on Thursday and we always (most always) have pizza on Fun-Friday and then the weekend is a free for all... we can eat whatever we feel like. I didn't add Bryce to the schedule because he's away right now & he's easy going anyways... he'll eat whatever I make. (Good man! Love him!) I am also trying to have the kids help make their meals on their meal day. (or at least run & get the ingredients) I think it will be a good opportunity for them to learn how to cook. Maybe one day this will pay off & they will pick the meal & make it without me!! Here's to hoping!!

June's first Monday meal... guess what it was? Tacos! Surprise, surprise!



So far things are working out~ although the boys have been asking for waffles and eggs & toast alot. I now have put a cap on the 'breakfast dinner' requests. No more than one breakfast dinner or taco dinner per week. We'll see how that goes. I think I may make up a list of meals for them to choose from, or to at least help them think of what they may want. I am also hoping that it will help me spend a little less money when I grocery shop... buying what we need for the week as opposed to buying what I may need.

Bryce has been away for a couple weeks... it has been helpful to have the kids helping out when I have to wear both the mom & dad hat. I hope doing these things will help keep what's left of my sanity, and more importantly, teach my children some new life skills.

Wow, this blogging is time consuming! I think I may figure it out at some point...